From a treatise on the Gospel of Saint Matthew by Saint Chromatius, bishop
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp only to put it under a bushel basket;…
From a homily on Joshua by Origen, priest
The ark of the covenant led the people of God across the Jordan. The priests and the Levites halted, and the waters, as though out of reverence to the ministers…
From a letter to the Romans by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
The delights of this world and all its kingdoms will not profit me. I would prefer to die in Jesus Christ than to rule over all the earth. I seek…
From a letter to the Romans by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
You have never begrudged the martyrs their triumph but rather trained them for it. And so I am asking you to be consistent with the lessons you teach them. Just…
From the first letter to Serapion by Saint Athanasius, bishop
It will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the apostles and…
From the Exposition on John by Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest
Christ himself is the way, and therefore he says: I am the way. This certainly is eminently right for through him we have access to the Father. Since this way is not separate…
From a letter by Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr
In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to…
From the Moral Reflections on Job by Saint Gregory the Great, pope
Since the daybreak or the dawn is changed gradually from darkness into light, the Church, which comprises the elect, is fittingly styled daybreak or dawn. While she is being led…
From the homily at the canonization of the martyrs of Uganda by Saint Paul VI, pope
The African martyrs add another page to the martyrology—the Church’s roll of honor—an occasion both of mourning and of joy. This is a page worthy in every way to be…